On The Initial Dryness
It's day 235 of documenting 2025.
It's the weekend!
And it certainly feels so ordinary on this corner of this internet.
And yeah, since I haven't gotten any views so far on any of the recent posts, I might as well speak my mind.
And on my mind?
A whole tornado!
Oh! I'm exaggerating....
It's actually like a desert up there.
Just dry and void of excitement.
And I've been talking of no views when I don't even read the posts I write 😒
The first couple of views should be mine, right?
But no....here I am, down in the dumps because nobody reads anyway.
Sometimes, I just feel like I leave what I could be doing and cling onto some notion of excitement and enthusiasm...
To even get myself to write this, I'm currently listening to "Luminary" by Joel Sunny...on repeat.
And it's a minute past 2pm.
What I'm describing is the dryness.
The dull, boring, mundane.
Ironically, few days back, I was thinking of a tagline,
"Befriend the boring, mingle with the mundane".
Not so into it right now...😪
Yesterday, I started reading something quite interesting...or rather listening.
The book is called, "Screwtape Letters", by CS Lewis.
It's literally a collection of letters from a senior demon to a junior demon.
And the subject? Man
You, me, and Christians in general, represented by the name, "patient".
Where I stopped got me thinking 🤔
It sounded something like,
"When they're able to go past this initial dryness in their journey, they become less obedient to emotion and harder to tempt".
I was like, huh!
And today just feel like it, the initial dryness....when I'm more vulnerable to emotions and easily overwhelmed.
Just felt like I should write how today's going for me....
If you don't get it, it's fine.
I don't get me sometimes 😅
Anyways, let's get into Highlights for today and then a few lessons from our emperor friend. (I'm talking about Marcus Aurelius...for clarity purposes)
365 Days With Self-discipline
📌 On Looking Only One Day Ahead
"When I face the desolate impossibility of writing five hundred pages, a sick sense of failure falls on me, and I know I can never do it. Then gradually, I write one page and then another. One day’s work is all I can permit myself to contemplate."
Quote by John Steinbeck
While you’re standing at the foot of the mountain and looking at its peak, it looks like it’s impossible to scale it.
But then, if you decide to climb it — step by step and minute by minute — you slowly advance and soon you’re looking down, surprised at how high you are.
If you’re facing a big project, embrace the same attitude.
Don’t look a year ahead; instead, focus on what you need to do today to get a little bit closer to your destination.
Do it today, and then do it tomorrow, and then the day after tomorrow. Then continue week by week and month by month, until you make the impossible possible.
This is exactly how I'm still writing on this blog, despite the embarrassing fact that nobody is reading.
The mindset is, "I just have to hit publish once". Slowly, I'm building the pages of a book I will write later in the future.
I just wish I could apply that same mindset to other publishing platforms....X, and my WhatsApp channel.
Sometimes, it just skips my mind.
Or I get too busy.
What am I even building?
(A question I haven't actually sit to think about 😐)
What are the goals?
Are they on paper?
Is there an achievement plan?
👉🏼 Haven't really figured it out...nope...not exactly.
Ah Duon! You're such a a mess!
Without the guidance you can't even ask for, you're going nowhere.
You hear me?
(Me listening to me right now 🙄)
Alright where were we?
Meditations, right?
Yep! Let's do that...and get away from this awkward situation.
Meditations
📌 Book 5
21. Honor that which is greatest in the world—that on whose business all things are employed and by whom they are governed.
And honor what is greatest in yourself: the part that shares its nature with that power.
All things—in you as well—are employed about its business, and your life is governed by it.
22. If it does not harm the community, it does not harm its members.
When you think you’ve been injured, apply this rule: If the community isn’t injured by it, neither am I.
And if it is, anger is not the answer. Show the offender where he went wrong.
23. Keep in mind how fast things pass by and are gone—those that are now, and those to come. Existence flows past us like a river: the “what” is in constant flux, the “why” has a thousand variations. Nothing is stable, not even what’s right here.
The infinity of past and future gapes before us—a chasm whose depths we cannot see.
So it would take an idiot to feel self-importance or distress. Or any indignation, either. As if the things that irritate us lasted.
24. Remember:
Matter. How tiny your share of it.
Time. How brief and fleeting your allotment of it.
Fate. How small a role you play in it.
25. So other people hurt me? That’s their problem. Their character and actions are not mine. What is done to me is ordained by nature, what I do by my own.
I think I understand the last lesson.
It seems pretty clear.
Either way, let's get a breakdown of all of 'em.
21. Honor what governs the universe and yourself.
Marcus reminds us to revere both the cosmic order (often referred to as Logos or Reason) and the inner rational soul within us that mirrors it.
The same principle that guides the stars guides your thoughts. You are a participant in something greater, and your role, no matter how small it seems, is governed by that divine reason.
Key lesson:
You are aligned with the universe when you honor your higher nature; reason, virtue, and purpose.
22. Personal injury vs. collective harm.
If an action doesn't harm the collective, then you haven’t truly been harmed either.
Marcus suggests detaching your ego from the situation and assessing things through the lens of community well-being.
Key lesson:
Take things less personally. If harm hasn’t reached the community, it hasn’t reached you. If it has, respond with correction, not resentment.
23. Time flows fast; don’t get stuck.
Everything is fleeting; events, people, emotions. The river of existence never stops. Grasping for permanence or control only breeds frustration.
Key lesson:
Don’t hold tightly to what’s already slipping by. Humility, not outrage or ego, is the wise response to life's flux.
24. Perspective is humbling.
You occupy a tiny space in matter, a brief moment in time, and a minimal role in fate’s design. It’s a call to humility; and to freedom.
You don’t control much, but you can choose how to live meaningfully with what you have.
Key lesson:
Know your scale. Let that awareness liberate you from pressure and pride.
25. What others do is not your burden.
If someone wrongs you, it's a reflection of their character, not yours. Your response is where your power lies. What’s fated will unfold, but your reaction is a choice.
Key lesson:
Don't carry others' wrongdoings. Your strength lies in how you respond, not in what you endure.
Lessons to remind us 😌
I think I was reminded of something I need to work on.
It's all part of the inner work.
And I hope you're working on yourself too.
Thanks for reading 🎀
Don't forget to check out my newest poetry collection, Lanterns For The Lost.
I'm Duon Ada.
I'm documenting 2025.
And I'll see you tomorrow.
Ciao 💕
(These lines are getting old, right? 😏)
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